Cosmograf is the brainchild of Robin Armstrong, a very talented British musician, writer and producer whose influences are rooted in the classic prog songbook especially Pink Floyd. This is the third album to be released under the Cosmograf brand and has taken 18 months to create and record in Armstrong’s studio in southern England with the help of some of the best of the current crop of prog performers.

This stunning collection also has a wonderful cover design by Graeme Bell which depicts all the elements of the tracks including the ever-present clocks as an elderly figure with a stick gazing out over the next spectral horizon.

Overall, this is one of the most intriguing and lovely albums this reviewer has had the pleasure to hear this year. All the main elements are there – well-constructed, thoughtful songs, poignant lyrics and some delicious musical performances.  It is highly recommended to anyone who wants to hear a twist on Pink Floyd and VdGG within a very modern prog framework. When Age Has Done Its Duty is a concept album and adds Armstrong’s name to the long tradition of English prog story tellers. In this instance, it is Armstrong’s personal musical essay of life from the cradle to the grave – and beyond.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2011  Volume 6 at lulu.com/strangesound.

The wonderfully moody opener starts with a ticking clock and a baby’s cry and is a stream of conscious thought on the meaning of life, underpinned by a melancholic piano in a minor key and throbbing guitar riff, followed by a fast and furious guitar solo from Armstrong.

A church clock and birdsong again shifts the mood into a different space with Armstrong taking vocal, acoustic guitar and keyboard duty on the wonderfully mellow and chilled out “Dog On The Clee.”